Gun violence costs U.S. over 1 bln USD a year in hospital bills: CBS

NEW YORK, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Along with the incalculable toll on victims and their families, gun violence in the United States also exacts another heavy cost: more than 1 billion U.S. dollars a year in medical bills, reported CBS on Wednesday.

That figure only accounts for the initial health costs of hospital care for people who are shot, according to a report released by the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee ahead of a Wednesday hearing on the economic impact of gun violence.

"The costs are born most directly by victims and their families," Chethan Sathya, a pediatric trauma surgeon at the Cohen Children's Medical Center in New York City, said at the hearing.

For victims of fatal firearm injuries, medical costs totaled 290 million dollars in 2020 and cost an average of 9,000 dollars per patient, according to the panel, citing figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Every year, firearms-related injuries cause 30,000 initial in-patient hospital stays, each of which result in average treatment costs of 31,000 dollars, and 50,000 initial emergency room visits that run an average of 1,500 dollars a piece, according to the report, which cited a study by the Government Accountability Office.